Sketchbook Quartet - When Was The Last Time: Vol. 1 (2019)

Hans Eisler would have been chuffed to bits: this young quartet from Austria (in their own words a ‘post-jazz formation’) opens its Otto Mops CD, released in 2015, with the Solidaritätslied. Do not be fooled by the title of the song (The Solidarity Song): the four musicians play a confident and, more than anything else, relaxed music deeply rooted in the jazz tradition. Contemporary jazz mustn’t necessarily be overloaded or rational to be stimulating and interesting; indeed, as proved by this debut album, it can also be chilled and easily accessible. The ensemble plays somewhat unorthodox instruments – the band does without a classical bass instrument – to the strains of jazz and post-rock tunes.